Sociological Imagination

The biggest influences in my life have to be my parents and my health. Throughout my life I have had a heap of different illnesses that have either kept me out of school. During middle school I couldn't attend the 8th grade and in order to keep up with my other classmates, I had to make up most of the 8th grade over that summer. During this time is when, I believe, my parents really started make an impact on who I am today. No matter how frustrated they were with my health they never once gave me the impression that it was hopeless. To say I wanted to quit is an understatement, but they wouldn't let me. They had always taught me this growing up, however being an only child meant they spoiled me quite a bit. It wasn't until my health was bad that I really had to earn what I wanted. My health also led to me discovering many key interests that I still have to this day. Being inside and sick all the time meant that the only real constant in my life was T.V./Movies. I probably watched over 100 movies during that time. It wasn't until after I was better however that I discovered how much of an impact they had made on myself. I am the type of person who quotes movies randomly just because something will trigger a memory of that movie. It was during this time that I also discovered basketball. Whether it be watching old games, new games, sports talk shows about basketball, really anything basketball really drew my interests. It was in basketball that I truly believed I found my inspiration and drive to not be sick anymore. Around the time I started to get into basketball was the same time Derrick Rose was coming back from 2 season ending injuries. His drive was a real wake up call to me that when the chips are down, you can still get back up, as long a you are willing to work for it. My favorite memories are after my recovery, playing basketball with my friends and not having to worry about anything else. The biggest thing that I want to take away from this class is the ability to truly understand why certain people make certain decisions, and what influenced them to get to that point.